Features and benefits
As with any cobranded card, the Target Circle™️ Card is made for its brand-loyal customers. The perks are all focused around your Target purchases and include a variety of discounts.
Right on target: 5% discount in stores and online
Instead of earning purchase rewards on your Target purchases, using your Target Circle™️ Card gives you a 5% discount on eligible items. The discount is automatic at checkout, both in store and online; all you need to do is use your card to pay.
For example: Suppose you put a $100 Target purchase on your card. You would immediately get a $5 discount on the purchase by using your Target Circle™️ Card as the payment method at checkout.
This is way different from how most rewards credit cards work. With typical rewards cards, you'd earn rewards on your purchase, then later redeem those rewards for something like statement credit or gift cards. So, in the previous example, you'd get $5 in rewards to use later instead of the $5 discount at the register.
LEARN MORE: Best rewards credit cards
The straight discount route is arguably better than earning rewards for most people. You don't have to remember to redeem your rewards later, nor do you have to take time out of your life to do so.
Surprisingly useful: Extended return window
This is a perk that I think may be undervalued by many people -- until they need it. Target Circle™️ Card cardholders get 30 days added to the regular return window on eligible purchases made with their card.
Normally, Target's policy gives you 90 to return most items. So, Target Circle™️ Card members would get a total of 120 days (about four months) to make a return.
Maybe life has been extra busy -- like, say, during an inter-state move -- and you need a few extra weeks to make the time. Maybe the product worked fine for the first few tries, then went kaput right at the 90-day mark (this happens more often than you'd think). Whatever the case, having a little extra time can really save the day when you need it.
The extended return benefit isn't without its own restrictions (of course). It doesn't apply to:
- Target Optical purchases
- Non-returnable items
- Contract mobile phones
- Online purchases of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligible items using both Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) and a Target Circle™️ Card for payment
Bland but beneficial: Free shipping for eligible online orders
It's definitely not the marquee benefit, but this one could be useful for the right cardholder (especially folks trying to kick their Amazon Prime habit). Shopping target.com and paying with your Target Circle™️ Card grants you free two-day shipping on eligible items, and free standard shipping on most other Target items.
Now, it's worth pointing out that you can get free shipping on most Target items by meeting the $35 minimum. So, you don't need a Target Circle™️ Card to save on shipping fees. There's also an argument that free shipping with no minimum makes us more prone to impulse buying.
Either way, it can be a handy little perk for folks who need it.
So this one is hard to really quantify in any appreciable way. There's no clear data on what it includes. Target itself is pretty vague, saying, "RedCard holders will be offered exclusive extras, including special items and offers (collectively, 'exclusive extras')."
None of the Target Circle™️ Card members I asked could quite put their finger on this benefit, either (though it's an admittedly small demographic). One mentioned the occasional email offering early access to a sale. No one reported receiving free items.
Drawbacks to consider
So far as store cards go, the Target Circle™️ Card isn't bad. That doesn't mean it's without downsides that need to be taken into account, including the meager welcome bonus, inflated APR, and fine print.
Way off the mark: Sad welcome bonus isn't competitive
I am a big fan of welcome bonuses, and I truly believe every card should have one. But sometimes the bonus is so sad you almost think, "Why bother?"
This is one of those. For new Target Circle™️ Card cardholders: Save $50 on a future qualifying purchase over $50 when approved for a credit card.
For comparison, the best welcome bonuses out there can be worth $1,000 or more. Even a standard no annual fee card will usually give you a bonus worth $200. So a $50 bonus is something I don't really look twice at most of the time.
LEARN MORE: Best sign-up bonus credit cards
What makes matters worse? You can only redeem the offer through Target Circle, Target's loyalty program. This means you need to sign up for something else entirely just to use the bonus you get from your credit card. (Granted, most folks who shop Target enough to get the credit card are already members and/or would join anyway. But still.)
Totally off balance: High APR with no intro offer
One thing almost every store card has in common is that the interest rate is going to be terrible -- and the Target Circle™️ Card is no exception. The 29.95%, variable APR is higher than most credit cards by a big margin. It doesn't matter what credit score you have, either, as everyone gets the same terrible rate.
Additionally, don't expect any kind of intro APR offer to blunt the sting. You'll be hit with the high APR from day one.
LEARN MORE: Best 0% intro APR cards
All of this is to say you should never, ever, ever carry a balance on a Target Circle™️ Card. If you're someone prone to carrying a balance from month to month, look for another card with a lower interest rate.
Asterisk: Discounts and perks have important exclusions
As much as I love the 5% discount -- and I really do, it's great -- don't assume it applies to everything in the store (or online). There's a fairly long list of things that are excluded from the discount:
- Prescriptions, over-the-counter items located behind the pharmacy counter and clinic services at Target
- Target Optical eye exams and protection plans (Target Optical products, such as glasses and contact lenses, do receive the 5% discount)
- Target GiftCards; Visa, Mastercard and American Express prepaid cards; Game On, DraftsKings, and other sports betting gift cards; and Starbucks gift cards purchased at Starbucks locations within Target stores
- Target credit account payments, Target Circle™️ Card Reloadable cash reloads, Target Debit Card cash back, and cash advances on the Target Mastercard
- Wireless protection program purchases and deposits required by mobile carrier
- Gift-wrapping services
- Taxes, shipping, delivery, handling, and all other fees or charges
As you can see, most of the things you pick up as you stroll the aisles will be included, but a lot of potentially costly goods and services won't. (The pharmacy exclusion could be particularly painful for some folks.)
Confusing and unnecessary: Target Mastercard has weird rules and bad rewards
Technically, there are two different Target credit cards. There's the regular store card, the Target Circle™️ Card (sometimes just called the Target Credit Card). Then there's the Target Circle™️ Card Mastercard (or just the Target Mastercard).
LEARN MORE: Best Store Credit Cards
The Target Credit Card is a closed-loop card, meaning you can only use it to make Target purchases (in store and online). However, the Target Mastercard is an open-loop card, so you can actually use it to make purchases anywhere Mastercard is accepted. It also earns rewards on some of those purchases:
- 2% rewards on gas and dining
- 1% rewards for other purchases
Unfortunately, these aren't cash back rewards; you can only use them toward a Target gift card. They're also not very interesting categories, since you can get much higher return from many, many other cards.
Making matters worse, you can't actually apply for the Target Circle™️ Card Mastercard. You have to apply for the store card first. Then, later, if you meet some undisclosed standards, you'll be offered an upgrade to the Mastercard version.
My question here, though, is: Why bother?
LEARN MORE: Best Mastercard credit cards
